


Breathless

by mythicalamity



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Breathplay, Competitive Rhett, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Sexual Tension, Short Chapters, Sneaky Link, This is going to escalate kind of quickly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25364266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicalamity/pseuds/mythicalamity
Summary: Originally posted as a series of Anonymous Asks on Tumblr in response tothis postby @soho-xI am filling it out a bit now that I’m not limited to 500-character installments. So if you liked it over there, hopefully there’s more to like here. And if you haven’t read it over there: thanks for giving it a chance!
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 15
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sohox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohox/gifts).



> Originally posted as a series of Anonymous Asks on Tumblr in response to [this post](https://soho-x.tumblr.com/post/620398183580942336) by @soho-x 
> 
> I am filling it out a bit now that I’m not limited to 500-character installments. So if you liked it over there, hopefully there’s more to like here. And if you haven’t read it over there: thanks for giving it a chance!

The day had grown long, and transitioned into early evening as Rhett and Link sat in their office trying to think of ideas for their Good Mythical Summer episodes. 

They really needed some time off to do some creative brainstorming. But they just didn’t feel right taking another break, not after they’d had to scale back GMM due to quarantine. And that wasn’t exactly a break. They hadn’t been in any mental state to be creative or productive. 

So here they were, scratching their heads, spinning their wheels, and searching out every nook and cranny of their shared brain, in addition to any and all people on staff at Mythical. 

Rhett drew an anonymous suggestion from a wooden box that they had labeled “Anonymous Suggestions”. The name of the box was about as inspired as Rhett was feeling about the slips of paper that they had pulled from it so far. 

He read the next one to himself before he let out an exasperated sigh. “The new team members aren’t paying attention.”

Link rolled his eyes. “What’s that one say?” 

“Breath-holding competition. We’ve done that one. Multiple times, I feel.”

Link seemed to perk up. He hadn’t appeared to be paying much attention until. Just been acting more restless and distracted. Until now. 

“We have not,” he said, trying but failing to suppress a smile. 

“Oh come on, now. We timed holding our breath underwater. You can’t tell me you forgot the tubs!” Rhett had certainly not forgotten the tubs. “And holding a Super Note? I think it’s fair to say that I am, officially, Lung Capacity Brian.”

“Oh, yeah? Are you scared to make it really, really official? Because you know that if we do, you’ll lose.”

Rhett’s face contorted with confusion. Link was up to something. 

But it didn’t much matter at this point. 

Link had challenged him. 

And Rhett McLaughlin never could resist a challenge. 

“All right then, Neal. What did you have in mind? Aside from setting yourself up for another loss?”

Link snorted. “Don’t be getting all cocky before we even get started. What about a direct repeat of the tubs thing? It’s better than another dang food episode. And water is always good for a Good Mythical  _ Summer _ vibe.

“You just wanna get me with my clothes off,” Rhett teased. But he backed off instinctively when Link didn’t laugh or assert some witty denial. He just raised an eyebrow and had that same curiously sly half-smile on his face. 

“It’s for the clicks, man.”

“Mm Hmm. And you don’t think it’s gonna feel… repetitive? Since we are literally  _ repeating _ the same stunt from before?”

“It’s been five freakin years. A lot can change in that time. Besides, if you wanna really make it interesting, we can put money on it.”

Rhett slapped the top of his desk. “Okay, now you’re talking.”

“The loser will make a donation to a charity of the winner’s choosing?”

Rhett shrugged and held out a firm, open palm. 

They shook on it, and Link gathered up his stuff and went home for the night, leaving Rhett utterly bewildered. What in the world could Link be thinking had changed so much in the past five years since they had last attempted this stunt? Back when Rhett had more than  _ tripled _ Link’s time.

_ Oh well,  _ Rhett thought.  _ It’s  _ his  _ idea. If he’s really that eager to go down again… _

Rhett stopped mid-thought, and felt himself blushing at the phrasing of his own thoughts. Which wasn’t exactly new lately. He’d had more and more blushworthy thoughts about Link over the past five years. 

Maybe some things  _ had _ changed. 

And maybe, in a way, Rhett had been holding his breath all this time.


	2. Chapter 2

Rhett had been practicing holding his breath. He was secretly hoping that, in addition to beating Link, he would also beat his previous time. Last time, Rhett had nearly reached 3.5 minutes. Link, on the other hand, had barely held on for 60 seconds. Even then, he’s complained that he’d almost fainted. There was no way he was going to be competitive all of a sudden. 

Rhett flashed back to their last competition. He vividly remembered arriving to achieve a meditative state once submerged beneath the cool, crystal water in the tub. He tried to focus, and use mantras to center his intentions. But he kept being distracted by the things that Link had been saying above him. Even with Link’s voice being muffled as it traveled through the water, Rhett could clearly hear him saying, “Don’t just come up! Let me see you struggle.” If Rhett hadn’t already been breathless beneath the surface, he’d have had the wind knocked out of him as Link had continued: “Let me see your body shake!” 

Through the water, and across 5 years since being spoken, those words still gave Rhett chills… 

The day had arrived. 

Rhett and Link approached their respective tubs, and Rhett found that he couldn’t control his gaze as Link disrobed. He knew that there would be gifs to reflect his telling eyeline, but he didn’t care. 

“Who’s going down first?” Link asked. 

Rhett nearly choked at Link’s asking. But he played it off with a roll of his eyes, dismissing the phrasing as naivety on Link’s part. 

Link seemed ready and eager, and Rhett was agreeable to let him go first. Rhett felt like he would do better if he knew what time he was trying to beat. Not that he was going to need an advantage, but dammit he couldn’t help himself. He was competitive to his core. 

“What do ya say, big man? You ready for me to go down?” 

Link’s repeated use of That Phrase was making Rhett lose his mind. He  _ had _ to know what he was saying! And if so, what did he mean by it?

Link’s half-naked body sank beneath the water in the tub. Rhett couldn’t wait to see what Link had to offer. To see why he’d insisted upon this repeat challenge. He  _ had _ done that one Spartan Race. He’d started meditating, which included some breathing exercises… Maybe he had gotten more breath control by now? Rhett’s train of thought had barely had time to wander down that road before Link’s shoulders broke the surface, and Link popped up: dripping wet and breathing heavily. 

He hadn’t even lasted a minute. He hadn’t even beaten his own less-than-respectable time.

Rhett was hysterical. Light headed in his giddiness. 

“Why the hell did you wanna do this, if you know you still freakin sucked, man?! This has all been pretty... anticlimactic.”

They took a brief break before filming Rhett’s turn. 

Rhett looked curiously at Link. “Link, what was the point of that? I thought you’d discovered some new technique or something and were gonna blow us all away with your new breath holding abilities, or… somethin!”

Link didn’t answer, but instead slid the conversation into a new groove. “How about a new bet?”

“Okay…?”

“You break your old record of 3 minutes and 28 seconds, and we’ll make an on-camera bet that I’ll double my charity donation. The one that I’m already obligated to make, assuming you can hold it for longer than a minute.”

Rhett’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “And… is there an  _ off-camera _ bet?”

“You beat your old record,” Link made unwavering eye contact, and licked his lips. “And I’ll do anything you want me to do.”

Rhett approached the tub, already feeling breathless after Link’s proposition. He dipped below the surface and focused on his breathing, or lack thereof. He allowed his mind to go to a zen-like place, his head light and blissful. The darkness felt like a secure embrace. A raven-haired embrace, with a brilliant blue light at the end of the tunnel. The last words that Link had spoken to him hugged tightly to him, cradling him as he’s lungs eventually began to ache. Words warm with promise. 

“Anything you want,” he’d said. 

There was no freakin way that Rhett was gonna be tempted into taking a breath. 

There were some things that he craved more than air. But he grew twitchy. His mind was still detached and drifting, but he knew that he was right on the end of giving into his core human needs.

The last desperate seconds of breathlessness built like an orgasm. He was on the precipice of something mind-shattering, and just out of his grasp. All he had to do was reach out and grab it, it would be so easy. 

But then the game would be over. 

Try as he might, that breath was gonna come. Hard. And it was going to feel so ducking good. Like being reborn, and taking that first life-giving inhale. 

Rhett was ready now, and he loved knowing that Link was going to be the first person that he saw once he did. 

Link’s words from 5 years ago reverberated in his floating mind.  _ Let me see you struggle. Let me see your body shake!  _

Rhett’s muscles ached, his body convulsed with need. His lungs strained and heaved around the emptiness inside. 

Rhett erupted from the water, his lungs expanded and filled with air. He gasped and sputtered as he let the breath out. His hair dropped, and his mouth hung open. His eyes instinctively sought Link’s. 

Link looked elated. All lit up like Christmas Day as he told Rhett. 

“Ha! I dunno, brother, that looked pretty…  _ climactic  _ to me! Oh, and you beat your old time, by the way. By 3 whole seconds!” 


	3. Chapter 3

Rhett didn’t recover from his light-headedness the rest of the day, and that had precious little to do with him having held his breath for so long earlier in the day. 

_ A new record, _ he reminded himself. 

_ Anything you want, _ the echo of Link’s words reminded him. 

“You doing anything after work!” The casual tone of Link’s voice was enough to make Rhett want to claw his own skin off. 

“Uh, no. Why?”

“Care to join me over at the creative house? I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to, given the outcome of today’s challenge.”

Link pulled the car into the driveway at the creative house, turned it off, and they headed inside. 

Link sat down on his twin-bed, leaving Rhett wondering what to do with himself. 

“What exactly did you have in mind when you proposed this bet, Link?”

Link idly plucked at the bedsheets, and shrugged. “A lot of the same things I had in mind when I slipped that sliver of paper into the suggestions box, I guess.”

Rhett’s jaw dropped. He was speechless. 

Link continued, “Ultimately, another wager.”

Rhett still couldn’t bring himself to formulate actual words, instead asking for details with the quirk of his eyebrow. 

“How fast do you think you can cum?”

Rhett thought he’d  _ been _ breathless, but now he knew that couldn’t have been true - because Link’s question had just knocked the remaining wind out from him. 

“Well, what do you think, Rhett?”

Did Link honestly expect him to answer that?!

“D’you think it’s longer than I can hold my breath?” This was both the most stupid  _ and _ sexy thing that Rhett had ever been asked. 

Link stood from the bed, walked over until he was toe-to-toe with Rhett, and then took a deep breath before sinking down onto his knees. 

Rhett wanted to object! Link couldn’t start holding his breath  _ now _ . He knew for a twice-confirmed fact that Link couldn’t hold his breath for that long, and now he’d gone and begun to hold it before he’d even  _ done _ anything?

He wanted to demand a re-do, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice his complaints just then. Not when Link was looking up at him with those shining blue eyes.

Link exhaled, and shot Rhett a wink. “Don’t worry. I’m just practicin’. Are you ready, big man?”

Without waiting for an answer, Link lowered Rhett’s pants to his calves. His hot breath pressed open mouth kisses to his stomach. 

Rhett leaned his head back and knocked it on the wall with a dull thud when Link further parted his lips to lick a broad stripe up Rhett’s already shamelessly hardened cock. 

Link’s hands caressed Rhett’s hips and the thick muscle of his thighs as he suckled his full lips around the flushed, reddened tip of Rhett’s cock. 

His tongue fluttered over the head, and pulled high, embarrassing noises out of Rhett. Those whimpers quickly became moans as Link sucked him down more deeply. 

Rhett’s hips twitched despite his clear effort to stay still. 

Link giggled, took a deep breath and let it back out. He was gearing up for something. “I’m gonna try to hold my breath now, okay? And you're gonna see if you can fill my mouth with cum before I need to fill it with air.” 

Rhett nodded. 

Link dove back down, taking Rhett down to the base of his cock. His nose pressed into the warm skin and coarse hairs of Rhett’s lower stomach, and he swallowed him down as best he could without breathing through his nose.

Link’s throat tensed around Rhett’s length, and Rhett’s body went rigid. Link paused to see if Rhett would come, and when he didn’t Link began to bob his head like a hypnotic wave building as he settled into a rhythm. 

Rhett knew that Link’s lungs must be burning, but he desperately hoped that he could hold out so that Rhett could enjoy more of what Link’s mouth had to offer. One of Rhett’s long legs hooked itself around Link’s back, and his hands settled into fists on top of Link’s shoulders. His hips rose to meet Link’s bobbing motions, and he muttered filthy swears punctuated with Link’s name.

Rhett threw his head back as Link clutched his hips, and pulled him in deeper. Link held him there, despite Rhett’s attempts to pull back and allow Link the option to breathe. 

Rhett’s orgasm came suddenly with a groan. Accompanied by a mix of humming and triumphant and gasping cackling from Link, who was now delirious with his need for air. Cum sputtered from his oxygen-insistent lips with absolutely no discretion.

Rhett chuckled and shook his head.

“You know…” Rhett sighed. “I mean, you have to know… I can hold my breath much,  _ much  _ better.”

Link’s shoulders heaved as he caught his breath, and looked up at Rhett with shining lips.

“Prove it.”


	4. Chapter 4

They quickly traded places. Rhett slid down to his knees, and Link looked down at him looking fucked before Rhett even put his mouth on him, his eyes were still watering. 

Rhett unzipped Link’s jeans and peeled them down to his thighs, just enough to get his dick out and into his mouth. The feel of him took Rhett’s breath away all over again. There was nothing like the taste of him: skin and sweat… Rhett’s stomach was full of fluttery sensations as he anticipated what he might taste next. 

Link’s lips were red, and his cheeks flushed. His silver wings were all askew from having Rhett’s hands in them moments ago. 

He was beautiful in more ways than Rhett could count. 

Link's initial gasp was ragged, cutting off as Rhett traced his tongue around the delicate ridge of Link’s head, tongue ghosting playfully over the slit. Rhett opened up his throat and curled his tongue around the underside of Link’s dick. Link’s hand reached down to stroke Rhett’s bearded jaw. His fingers slid over the to finger the line where his cock and Rhett’s lips joined together. He pressed a finger inside, prying gently; wordlessly encouraging Rhett to open his hot little mouth wider, to take more of him in. 

Rhett opened his throat wider, and spread his knees farther apart to position himself lower. So he could tip his head back, and see how y’all Link looked from this angle, looking over Rhett and making him feel so blissfully  _ small _ . 

Slowly, Link began to really move. He’d held back at first, with small stuttering jerks of his hips, hitching forward almost involuntarily. 

Rhett hummed his approval around Link’s length, encouraging Link to ask, in a deep warm slur of words, “Ffffuck, Rhett. Can I?” 

Rhett mumbles around the fullness in his mouth, “Yeah.. Do it.”

Link’s fingers threaded through Rhett’s long waves of hair, and curled around his skull, holding him in place. He fucked deeper into Rhett’s mouth, and Rhett’s jaw and knees began to ache. But that was all fine, because he had a mouthful of  _ Link _ , and  _ Link _ was hitting the back of his throat. 

The majority of Rhett’s gag reflex had been fucked out of him, but when Link went down far enough, it was still there. 

Rhett coughed on the next big thrust, and Link protectively pulled out, like an apology. 

“Don’t you dare,” Rhett told him. Everything within him needed Link to keep going. 

Link obliged him as he grabbed fistfuls of Rhett’s hair, and filthy words began to spill from his swollen lips. Broken, and quiet fragments of things that sounded an awful lot like love as they landed on Rhett’s ears. 

Rhett slid his lips down Link’s shaft until there was nowhere left to go. His nose buried into Link’s dark curls. With Link’s arms on either side of Rhett’s head like blinders in his periphery, Link was the only thing that Rhett could see. He was the only thing that Rhett could feel, huge in his throat. He had encompassed all five of Rhett’s senses, which was absolutely fine by Rhett. 

Rhett was so turned on by how deep Link was down his throat that he couldn’t hold any other though in his head. There was a certain peace in that. Drool coated his beard as he felt his airway being blocked off and, fuck… Fuck! It was good. 

Link’s hand slipped down below Rhett’s jaw for his thumb and forefinger, spreading to touch beneath his ears, lightly at first, but then sinking in.

Rhett was reduced to whines and whimpers at how utterly at Link’s mercy he was like this.

He began to shiver, and it had been about maybe a minute since Rhett had gotten a chance to fill his lungs. He’d always been good at holding his breath - better than Link anyway, twice confirmed.

But things had started to go bright at the edges, and his lungs burned. Just as he was beginning to see stars, Link instinctively withdrew. Their soulmates-level intuition was a blessing, but putting that aside, it was not a great system for keeping Rhett safe.

“Maybe we need some kind of… safeword?” Rhett rasped. “I like what is happening here and all…” He coughed to clear the distinct feeling of cock from his throat. “More than that, I fucking  _ love it _ . I just think that--”

Rhett’s thought was cut off as Link hauled him over to the twin-bed with a strength that was both surprising and hotter than hell. The way that Link was manhandling him onto the bed gave Rhett the sinking feeling that Link might want to fuck him…

Although Rhett had been agreeable enough to spread his lips open for Link to swallow his cock, he really had not given enough thought to the possibility of spreading his cheeks for him for the same purpose.

But then Link gruffly flipped Rhett onto his back, and began to climb up his body. Link’s hard, spit-slicked cock bobbed ridiculously as he did so. Link straddled Rhett’s body, grinded downward and made Rhett  _ feel _ his weight.

“Two taps,” Link stated. 

They had never played like this before, but Rhett was able to follow. He felt a rush of adrenaline just at the idea of where this was going. From seeing Link this degree of uninhibited, and  _ hungry _ . 

“No safeword?” Rhett clarified.

“You may not be able to speak.” Link’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “And I might not be able to read your lips.” Link traced a finger over Rhett’s used mouth, and Rhett’s cock twitched with anticipation.

Link truly had thought this through.

“All right, then. Two taps,” Rhett confirmed.

Rhett watched as Link strongly braced his upper body against the wall, and leaned forward to line himself up with Rhett’s lips. Rhett’s mouth automatically opened to welcome him. Link’s thighs spread wide as he straddled Rhett’s broad shoulders to sink his dick into Rhett’s mouth. 

Link started out slow and steady, slowly building back up to the punishing pace that he had set earlier. Rhett’s mouth and throat stretched around him, and Link’s mouth went blissfully slick, eyes rolled back into his head. Link pet Rhett’s cheek affectionately before he really began to  _ move. _

He lowered his head, and knocked it against the wall as he rolled his hips forward, and drew his hot dick into and out of Rhett’s face. His sack slapped Rhett’s chin as he moved faster. And faster. 

Rhett gripped Link’s thighs, and pressed his fingers into them hard enough to leave bruises.

“Does that count as one tap?” Link asked.

Rhett wanted to scream, “No!” But his throat was well-occupied, so he simply remained still and silent, to ensure that no further movement could be misinterpreted as a tap, inadvertently ending their game.

Rhett tilted his face to meet Link’s firm downward thrusts, and helped him to drill deeply.

Link pulled out, breathless, with his cock dripping; his hands came to rest at Rhett’s throat. 

“Two taps,” Link reinforced.

Rhett nodded his consent, giddy just thinking about what Link might do next - that had warranted the reminder. Rhett guided Link’s cock back to his mouth; he took a deep breath - and held it.

He once again felt Link filling his throat with his thick cock, and the next things he felt were Link’s fingers pressed into his neck.

Link was gentle at first, until Rhett arched into it. Link’s thumbs crossed over Rhett’s Adam's apple, and then he applied more pressure. 

Rhett felt his fingers at either side of his throat. His heart was pounding, trapped behind his ribcage. His vision began to sparkle as he tried to hold eye contact with Link staring down at him, fucking downward hard and with heat behind his cool blue eyes. Those eyes were sharp and curious. 

The pressure alleviated momentarily, which frustrated Rhett because he hadn’t even tapped once! But then Link’s hands returned… One hand was at Rhett’s throat, and the other pinched Rhett’s nose.

Rhett was beside himself. He had never felt anything so freeing as handing over possession of his body so completely to another person. 

Link moaned above him, his body trembled. 

Rhett reached past Link’s hips to cradle his ass. His long fingers drifted toward his entrance. Fuck, he needed to feel inside Link as Link fucked his throat…

“Yes,” Link clearly articulated. “You can touch me, Rhett.”

Link increased the pressure of his hold as Rhett teased one finger past the tight muscle of Link’s ass.

Link was not shy to push back against Rhett’s finger. Hovering above him, Link brazenly used Rhett for his pleasure. 

Rhett trusted Link to take him right up to the edge.

Link trusted Rhett not to let him go too far.

Rhett moved his finger, and sucked Link’s cock. Things went hazy and he gave Link’s thigh a distinct slap with the hand that was not in Link’s asshole, and Link loosened his grip immediately to let Rhett breathe. But he maintained enough sensation that Rhett came for the second time that night.

Harder than he had ever cum in his life.

With no air left in him to make a sound, and no space to articulate them around Link’s cock in his mouth, Rhett mouthed his filthy gratitude around his shaft, moaning and struggling in his ecstasy. He tapped twice and Link let go of his throat, and quickly followed by letting go of his load.

Rhett couldn’t swallow, so he sputtered cum all over his lips and down into his beard. He knew he was a dang mess, and was shocked when Link brought his mouth down to meet his own cum-glossed lips. 

Kissing him.

Breathing into him.

They relaxed onto the bed, their large frames overlapping on the too-narrow mattress. Rhett touched at his through, and found it to be raw and feverish with warmth in his skin that  _ Link _ had put there. He found himself blushing all over again at how happy he felt about that.

Link pulled back from his barrage of kisses, and Rhett gasped, still craving air.

“I didn’t even touch you that second time,” Link observed.

Rhett just shrugged. “You did enough.”

Link looked both proud and somewhat fascinated by that as he nuzzled in impossibly closer to Rhett.

“I guess I gotta give it to ya, Rhett…”

_ Yes please… _ Rhett thought.

“You are  _ officially _ , and undisputedly: Lung Capacity Brian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to sohox for both the general concept, and then humoring THIRTY-THREE anons on Tumblr that were the bones of this story. I mean, how gracious is that??
> 
> And thank you all for reading either/both versions of this. These boys are an endless source of inspiration, and this fandom is such a fun place share those stories! 
> 
> I have enjoyed telling this one, and look forward to telling many more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I’m [@mythicalamity](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/mythicalamity/) on Tumblr. Come talk Rhinky to me 🔥


End file.
